The present invention relates to a recorded disk playback device, such as a CD player, and specifically to such a device as employs a clamper to clamp the disk onto a turntable.
Disk players that employ a turntable to rotate recorded disks for playback are known. Some known devices transport the disk to a playback position and then lift the disk out of its support, for example a tray, toward a rotatable clamp. The clamp has a magnet that is attracted to the turntable surface. The turntable continues to move upward, carrying the disk off its support (eg. surface of the tray), until it is close enough to cause the clamp to settle against the disk, thereby securing it to the turntable. This moves the disk away from the mounting surface of the tray, and the magnet arranged in the clamper is attracted to the turntable. In this way the disk is clamped between the turntable and the clamp so that the turntable can rotate the disk.
One problem with the type of device described above is that a substantial amount of space is required to permit the disk to move upward perpendicular to its surface. Since compactness is usually an important design goal for such devices, this space requirement is undesirable. For example, to make a CD player for a computer that fits into the standard form factor for peripherals, space is difficult to find. Any refinements to avoid the space requirement, such as by keeping the disk in place and moving the clamping elements toward it, would add complexity and cost to the design as well as introduce additional space requirements.